The Clansman (1905)
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The Clansman
An Historical Romance
of the Ku Klux Klan
Illustrated by
Arthur I. Keller
New York
Doubleday, Page & Company
1905
Copyright, 1905
By Thomas Dixon, Jr.
To the memory of
a Scotch-Irish leader of the South
My Uncle, Colonel Leroy McAfee
Grand Titan of the Invisible Empire
Ku Klux Klan
"The Clansman" is the second book of a series of historical novels planned on the Race Conflict. "The Leopard's Spots" was the statement in historical outline of the conditions from the enfranchisement of the negro to his disfranchisement.
"The Clansman" develops the true story of the "Ku Klux Klan Conspiracy," which overturned the Reconstruction régime.
The organization was governed by the Grand Wizard Commander-in-Chief, who lived at Memphis, Tennessee. The Grand Dragon commanded a State, the Grand Titan a Congressional District, the Grand Giant a County, and the Grand Cyclops a Township Den. The twelve volumes of Government reports on the famous Klan refer chiefly to events which occurred after 1870, the date of its dissolution.
The chaos of blind passion that followed Lincoln's assassination is inconceivable to-day. The revolution it produced in our Government, and the bold attempt of Thaddeus Stevens to Africanize ten great States of the American Union, read now like tales from "The Arabian Nights."
I have sought to preserve in this romance both the letter and the spirit of this remarkable period. The men who enact the drama of fierce revenge into which I have woven a double love story are historical figures. I have merely changed their names without taking a liberty with any essential historic fact.
In the darkest hour of the life of the South, when her wounded people lay helpless amid rags and ashes under the beak and talon of the Vulture, suddenly from the mists of the mountains appeared a white cloud the size of a man's hand. It grew until its mantle of mystery enfolded the stricken earth and sky. An "Invisible Empire" had risen from the field of Death and challenged the Visible to mortal combat.
How the young South, led by the reincarnated souls of the Clansmen of Old Scotland, went forth under this cover and against overwhelming odds, daring exile, imprisonment, and a felon's death, and saved the life of a people, forms one of the most dramatic chapters in the history of the Aryan race.
Thomas Dixon, jr.
Dixondale, Va. December 14, 1904.
Contents
Book I
The Assassination
| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | The Bruised Reed | 3 |
| II. | The Great Heart | 19 |
| III. | The Man of War | 33 |
| IV. | A Clash of Giants | 38 |
| V. | The Battle of Love | 56 |
| VI. | The Assassination | 61 |
| VII. | The Frenzy of a Nation | 80 |
Book II
The Revolution
| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | The First Lady of the Land | 90 |
| II. | Sweethearts | 101 |
| III. | The Joy of Living | 112 |
| IV. | Hidden Treasure | 115 |
| V. | Across the Chasm | 120 |
| VI. | The Gauge of Battle | 131 |
| VII. | A Woman Laughs | 136 |
| VIII. | A Dream | 148 |
| IX. | The King Amuses Himself | 152 |
| X. | Tossed by the Storm | 162 |
| XI. | The Supreme Test | 165 |
| XII. | Triumph in Defeat | 179 |
Book III
The Reign of Terror
| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | A Fallen Slaveholder's Mansion | 187 |
| II. | The Eyes of the Jungle | 204 |
| III. | Augustus Caesar | 209 |
| IV. | At the Point of the Bayonet | 218 |
| V. | Forty Acres and a Mule | 235 |
| VI. | A Whisper in the Crowd | 244 |
| VII. | By the Light of a Torch | 254 |
| VIII. | The Riot in the Master's Hall | 263 |
| IX. | At Lover's Leap | 276 |
| X. | A Night Hawk | 284 |
| XI. | The Beat of a Sparrow's Wing | 297 |
| XII. | At the Dawn of Day | 305 |
Book IV
The Ku Klux Klan
| Chapter | Page | |
| I. | The Hunt for the Animal | 309 |
| II. | The Fiery Cross | 318 |
| III. | The Parting of the Ways | 327 |
| IV. | The Banner of the Dragon | 337 |
| V. | The Reign of the Klan | 341 |
| VI. | The Counter Stroke | 351 |
| VII. | The Snare of the Fowler | 358 |
| VIII. | A Ride for a Life | 362 |
| IX. | "Vengeance Is Mine" | 369 |
Scene: Washington and the Foothills of the Carolinas.
Time: 1865 to 1870.
| Ben Cameron | Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan |
| Margaret | His Sister |
| Mrs. Cameron | His Mother |
| Dr. Richard Cameron | His Father |
| Hon. Austin Stoneman | Radical Leader of Congress |
| Phil | His Son |
| Elsie | His Daughter |
| Marion Lenoir | Ben's First Love |
| Mrs. Lenoir | Her Mother |
| Jake | A Faithful Man |
| Silas Lynch | A Negro Missionary |
| Uncle Aleck | The Member from Ulster |
| Cindy | His Wife |
| Col. Howle | A Carpet-bagger |
| Augustus Cæsar | Of the Black Guard |
| Charles Sumner | Of Massachusetts |
| Gen. Benjamin F. Butler | Of Fort Fisher |
| Andrew Johnson | The President |
| U. S. Grant | Commanding General |
| Abraham Lincoln | The Friend of the South |
List of Illustrations
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1946, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 77 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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